Hide From Me
by sylc
Summary: Hatori finds out from Mine that Ayame has been unwell. Hatori/Ayame.


It had been an unusually quiet day of work for Hatori. Akito had not called for him since breakfast and two of his appointments had been cancelled, effectively freeing him up for most of the afternoon. Now, alone in his office and seated at his desk, he realised that he had completed all of the paperwork that he had set aside to do that week. He stared blankly at the timetable on the computer screen before him, then dropped his gaze to look at the bare surface of his desk. He was certain that there was at least one more task to complete. Some papers, some report, some test... he turned his head from side to side, scanned the electronic timetable... and came up blank.

He smiled slightly and turned his head to look at the window. It was still early in the afternoon. Perhaps he should return to his rooms. Absently, he reached down to rummage in a pocket of his jacket, which hung over the back of his chair, and pulled out his mobile to check it.

No calls since lunch. Good. He looked at his messages...

...and his brow furrowed. No messages either. No messages since the previous afternoon. He scanned his saved messages and as he did so, the furrows in his brow deepened.

Ayame had not contacted him in over forty-eight hours.

For someone who had a habit of contacting him at least three time a day and visiting him in person every two days, this was most strange. Hatori looked at his landline and reached out to it, then paused and withdrew it. He hadn't spoken to some of his cousins in over a week, after all. And Shigure would have told him if something was up.

Wouldn't he?

Hatori pursed his lips and reached out again. This time he picked up the landline's receiver and dialled the number of Ayame's shop.

After a few rings, he heard a click on the other end as the receiver was picked up.

_'Good afternoon, Ayame's Fabrics, Mine speaking!'_ Mine sounded as bright and cheerful as ever. Hatori felt his shoulders relax a little and he leaned back slightly in his chair. A small smile crossed his lips.

'Hello Mine. May I speak to Ayame, please?'

_'Hatori-san?'_

'Yes.' Hatori nodded and waited attentively for a few moments before realising that Mine had not moved from the phone. 'Is something wrong?' he asked.

_'Uh... well...'_ Mine sounded flustered. _'Well, he is at home; he took today off work.'_

'I see. Is something wrong?'

Silence.

'Mine?'

_'He has the flu,'_ she said.

Hatori nodded. 'Should I be concerned?' he asked, not thinking much of the question. He was sure that Ayame would have paid him a visit if it was serious. After all, Ayame lived within the estate. So he was surprised at Mine's response.

_'I don't know. He hasn't been into the shop for three days and and he spent most of the day before that in the terrarium in his office.'_

'I see. Is there a reason why he hasn't contacted me?' After a pause, Hatori added, 'contacted us?' as he was certain that if anyone in the family had heard of Ayame's illness, he would have been contacted.

She hesitated, then said in a soft voice, _'He doesn't think it's serious.'_

'I see.' Hatori reached for his computer mouse with his free hand and selected the search button on the screen. He drew up Ayame's record and quickly scanned it; his brow knitted. 'Thank you, Mine. I'll pay him a visit.'

She made a non-committal noise. He put down the receiver, put on his coat, and grabbed his suitcase.

'I'm going out,' he told his assistant as he came to her desk. 'I'll be gone for about...' He glanced at his watch. '...an hour, perhaps a bit longer. Call me if there's an emergency.'

'Yes, Hatori-sensei.'

Ayame lived at a far end of the inner estate, which was why Hatori did not see him everyday, but also why he usually managed to keep in closer contact with him than with Shigure. Or rather, why Ayame usually managed to keep in close contact with him. As he stepped down from the porch and into the sunshine, he reflected that Ayame was a little like the sun's rays in how he managed to invade his personal space... in both positive and negative ways.

Some ten minutes later he arrived at Ayame's house. He tried the door, found it unlocked, and went inside. He toed off his shoes and set about checking the front rooms. They were empty. Hatori noticed, as he passed the kitchen on his way to the bedroom, that the sink was half-full of unwashed dishes.

Ayame was sitting up in bed in his night clothes, a sewing basket beside him, and occupied with sewing closed a great rent in a kimono. When Hatori opened his door and went inside, Ayame looked up and his eyes widened. ' 'Tori!' he croaked. His hands and their contents fell limply to his lap.

'You should have called me,' Hatori said, looking at Ayame's hollowed cheeks and paler than usual complexion. 'You look and sound terrible.' He glanced at Ayame's bedside table and noticed two open boxes of different coloured tablets sitting there beside two teacups, a teapot, and a book. There was a strong smell of ginseng in the air.

Ayame tilted his head at him and smiled. 'I didn't want to worry you,' he rasped. 'It's not serious.'

'It sounds more serious than the illnesses that Shigure calls me over to his house to treat at the drop of a hat,' Hatori said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. The wrinkles in the sheets distorted into new shapes as Ayame moved his legs to accommodate him and provide space for his suitcase, which Hatori set down beside him at the foot of the bed and opened to take out his stethoscope. 'You should have told me. Tell me next time.'

'Mm.' Ayame's smile faded and he looked down at the kimono that covered his lap. Hatori's eyes narrowed.

'Is something wrong?'

Silence. Hatori hooked the plugs of the stethoscope into his ears and followed Ayame's gaze to the kimono and the puddled ends of Ayame's tresses on the top of the sheets. He opened his mouth to inquire after the kimono, but after a moment closed it again and instead moved over to Ayame who silently undid the front of his robe to expose his pale chest for him.

When Hatori touched the end of the stethoscope to his chest, Ayame jerked back at the touch. Hatori didn't comment; he had seen the reaction countless times before with his other patients and Ayame's unusually subdued behaviour did not invite conversation.

'Breathe in,' he ordered.

Ayame inhaled.

'And out.'

Ayame exhaled.

'And in.' He noticed that Ayame's nipples had hardened and made a mental note to put the heater on before he left. 'And out.'

Ayame exhaled and raised a hand to his flushed face to cough into his hand; his chest jerked. Hatori dropped the end of the stethoscope, unhooked the other ends from his ears, and turned his head to look pointedly at the bedside table.

'What are those tablets?'

'Mine gave them to me.' Ayame closed the front of his robe and deftly fastened the ties. Hatori reached out and picked up the boxes to scan them. His brow knitted and he turned to look Ayame in the face.

'These require a prescription.'

Ayame tilted his head again. 'She had the flu before me.'

'I see.' Hatori's gaze slid to the two teacups and the book. 'She has made me redundant,' he remarked with a small smile. He slid the boxes back onto the table beside the cups.

'Eh?'

Hatori put his stethoscope back into the suitcase and closed it with a snap. 'I will come back to check on you tonight,' he said as he rose. 'Oh, and Ayame?'

'Yes?'

'Call me if you want to talk or if your condition worsens.'

'Mm.'

Before he left, Hatori turned the heater under the window onto low.

On his way back to his office, he took a detour and called at the main house.

A servant met him on the porch. 'Hatori-sama,' the servant said. 'Are you here to see Akito-sama?'

'Is Shigure here?' he asked, ignoring the question. 'I want to speak to him.'

The servant turned his head and nodded in the direction of the other side of the house. Hatori headed around the corner of the house rather than enter it and found Shigure sitting alone on the porch with his hands tucked in the sleeves of his kimono.

'Ha-san.' Shigure's eyes widened and a smile spread over his face when he saw him approach. 'I was just about to come and see you.'

'Liar.' Hatori sat down beside him and reached into his pocket to pull out his cigarettes. As he lit up, he shot Shigure a sidelong, sour look. 'Why didn't you tell me he was ill?' He dragged on his cigarette.

'Ah. Who was?'

Hatori exhaled. 'He's repairing one of your kimonos.'

Silence. Shigure turned his head to look at the garden.

'And I recognise that copy of _Teleny_.'

'A sad love story.'

Hatori's brow rose and he turned to look at Shigure to observe a small rueful smile on the other's lips. He hesitated, then dismissed the comment and turned his eyes to the garden. He dragged on his cigarette again.

'He didn't want to worry you,' Shigure said after a pause.

Hatori's jaw tightened. 'There _is_ a reason why I am called the family doctor,' he reminded.

'Mm.' Shigure lips curved into a small smile. Hatori thought back to Ayame's medical records.

'You know,' he said, 'Ayame has never visited me with an illness.'

'Really?' Shigure tilted his head.

'He has a regular obligatory check up with me every three months. That's all. He has never visited me with an ailment.'

'Mm.'

There was another pause during which Hatori scanned Shigure's closed expression in hope that Shigure would relent to his scrutiny, but after a few minutes, he had to admit defeat. He leaned forward and put his cigarette out on a stone by his foot.

'I have to return to my office,' he said as he rose.

'Mm. Take care.'

'Bye.' As he left the garden, he supposed that he should leave Ayame alone. Ayame's concerns were Ayame's own until his cousin chose to share them with him. It was not his business to pry into his friend's affairs. Ayame didn't owe him any answers.

After all, it was not as if they were lovers.


End file.
